Love is Troublesome
by Dolphingirl32173
Summary: Shikamaru and Sakura get paired up for an undercover mission. But why did their cover have to be fiancées? And is trouble brewing for Leaf?  What, exactly, is Cloud up to? ShikaSaku Rated T for language and future content
1. Mission

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: wow, my first ever pure Shika/Saku pairing fic. I've been reading a lot of fics with this pairing lately, and I have to admit I rather like it.

DISCLAIMER: If I owned the Naruto series, Sasuke wouldn't be a jerk, wouldn't be obsessed with killing his brother, and would get a girlfriend who _wasn't_ one of the star girls; guys would be tripping over themselves to ask Sakura out; Sakura wouldn't doubt her abilities at all; Naruto would realize Hinata likes him; and a bunch of other stuff. So since none of that happens, obviously I don't own it.

_**WARNINGS**_

Rated M for future content. You have been warned.

_**SUMMARY**_

Shikamaru and Sakura get paired up for an undercover mission. But why did their cover have to be _fiancées?_ And is trouble brewing for Leaf? What, exactly, is Cloud up to? _**(Shika/Saku)**_

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

_Scene change in memory_

_**TRANSLATIONS**_

_Itai:_ ow

* * *

Chapter 1

Mission

"Shikamaru-san, Hokage-sama wants to see you," a messenger nin says upon finding the lazy nin in his usual field, watching clouds.

Shikamaru sighs and sits up. "How troublesome," he mutters, standing up. The messenger nin nods, then takes off for the Hokage tower. Shikamaru follows at a _much_ slower pace. When he reaches Tsunade's office, twenty-five minutes later, he notices Sakura sitting in one of the chairs, a look of impatience and irritation on her face. "You sent for me, Tsunade-sama?" he asks.

Tsunade nods. "Yes, I have a mission for you. _Both_ of you," she says. Shikamaru sighs and takes a seat in the other chair. Both Anbu look at Tsunade expectantly, waiting for her to give them the details of their mission. Tsunade sighs. "It seems that Cloud is up to something. I've been given reason to believe that they may be planning something against us. Also, there is an annual conference coming up to sort out treaties between the Hidden Villages. Each Village is required to send representatives to the conference, and this year it's being hosted in Cloud. I have chosen you to go to this conference as you two are the best tacticians and politicians we have. I want you two to go under the guise of fiancées and snoop around to see if you can find out what Cloud is up to. The conference will last one month. I want regular reports on what is going on. In sync with the conference will be a romance festival; you might get information from those who attend the festival.." **(I borrowed the idea from deleria; hope you don't mind if your reading this!)**

Sakura and Shikamaru look ready to protest acting as fiancées, but merely nod and say, "Yes, Tsunade-sama."

"When does this conference start?" Sakura asks.

"This Friday." It's now Monday. "I want you to leave tomorrow so you can get there and make connections before the conference."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama," Sakura says. Shikamaru merely nods.

Later that afternoon

"Thought I'd find you here," a voice says softly, alerting him as to who was approaching. She sits down beside him and looks up at the clouds. "What do you think of the mission, Shikamaru-san?" she asks.

He shrugs, not taking his eyes off the clouds. "It's going to be troublesome," he mutters.

She laughs. _"Everything_ is troublesome to you. Except watching clouds and sleeping, of course," she chuckles.

"Bingo. What are you doing here anyways, Sakura-san? Shouldn't you be packing?"

"I already did, and I could say the same about you."

"Done already," he says.

She grins. "You know, we have to play the role of 'fiancées'. We should ditch the 'san', Shikamaru," she says thoughtfully.

"True, Sakura." He decides he likes how easily her name rolls off his tongue.

Sakura smiles at him, then turns her eyes back to the sky. "Clouds are amazing," she says softly. "They just float in the sky, not worrying about what happens down here on earth. And when the wind comes along to play, the clouds change shape as the wind sees fit. I wish _I_ was a cloud; no worries about the life of a kunoichi, even if I _am_ a medic-nin. I could just float around in the sky all day and night, going wherever the winds take me."

Shikamaru sends a surprised look her way. That is pretty much what _he_ thinks of clouds. "Interesting," he says softly.

"You agree, Shikamaru?" she asks, turning her eyes to look at him. He nods before returning his eyes to the sky. She smiles softly, then returns her attention to the sky as well. "Have you been to Cloud before?" she asks softly.

"A few times, why?"

"I've never been. What's it like?"

"Cloudy, all the time; the sun almost never comes out and it rains a lot."

"Sounds gloomy."

"I guess."

"Well you're sure talkative today." Sarcasm.

"…"

"I think we should get to know each other a little better."

"…why?"

"Well, if we're to fake fiancées, we have to know each other rather well. It would be that much easier if we got to know each other better now than during the journey to cloud. And I'm sure you relate easy to less troublesome."

"… good point."

"So you want me to start this off?!"

"… Sure."

"Lazy bum."

"Thanks."

"Ugh."

"That's not a question."

"What's your favorite color?"

"Blue. Yours?"

"Same as yours, blue. Favorite food?"

"Too troublesome to choose."

"Well mine's skittles."

"That's not food, that's candy."

"Candy is food!"

"Whatever. Is your hair naturally pink?"

"Okaa-san would kill me if I dyed my hair."

"But you don't live with her."

"I've had pink hair my whole life. If I dyed it when I was younger, I'd have been grounded until either my natural hair color came back out or I moved out of the house."

"Good point."

"Did you ever like Ino?"

"… What?"

"I said, did you ever like Ino?"

"I heard you the first time. And it depends on what you mean by 'like'."

"As a potential girlfriend."

"No. Just as a friend. When'd you get over … him?"

"… a long time ago. Did you ever like any girl as a potential girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

"Who?"

"Too troublesome to say."

"Now that's just avoiding the question!"

"I know. What're your hobbies?"

"I like to read, play shogi and go, watch clouds, and stargaze."

Smirk. "What, no shopping for the fun of it?"

Laughter. "Nah, I don't like wasting money on trivialities when I can save it for more important things. I only ever do it if Ino drags me off to shop somewhere and insists I buy at _least_ a 'few' things. By her standards, a 'few' things are at least a thousand yen worth of stuff."

"Yeah, Ino loves to shop."

"What about your hobbies? Other than watching clouds of course."

"Stargazing, playing strategy games, read a bit, and being lazy."

"Ah! So it's a hobby of yours to be lazy!"

"Yep."

"Thought so; nobody's _that_ lazy without trying. What kind of books you like?"

"So long as it's nonfiction, I don't care."

"Wow! Me too. Seems we have a lot in common. Well, discounting the laziness."

"I suppose."

"Shikamaru! Now your just trying to avoid the conversation!"

"I know." BAM! "ITAI! That hurt! You hit harder than Ino!"

"Then stick to the conversation!"

Sigh. "Fine."

Sakura and Shikamaru spend the rest of the afternoon getting to know each other. And like Sakura said, they do have a lot in common.

* * *

Sarah: well, that's it for chapter one. Yeah, yeah, I know. The whole "let's play fiancée/newlyweds" thing is overused, and so is having people go undercover to find out if Konoha's in trouble or not. But ya know what? I don't give a damn. 


	2. First Day of the Journey

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter 2. Hope you enjoy.

Sakura: Sarah-chan doesn't own the song 'Can't Stop the Rain'. Cascada sings it. Nor does she own the baka's series.

Naruto: **(pouting)** that's _so_ mean, Sakura-chan!

Sarah: he's right, Sakura. You don't have to be so mean to Naruto.

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

"_Singing"_

"_**Inner Sakura talking to Sakura"**_

_Scene change in memory_

_**TRANSLATIONS**_

_Aa:_ informal form of yes

_Nani:_ what

* * *

Chapter 2

First Day of the Journey

Sakura covers a yawn as she reaches Konoha gate just a few minutes before six, the time they are supposed to meet up. She looks around and smiles softly when she sees Shikamaru leaning against a tree, fast asleep. She walks up to him and pokes his arm a few times. He lazily opens one of his eyes. "Aren't we supposed to leave soon?" she asks.

He sighs, nods, and moves away from the tree. He grabs his backpack from the ground beside the tree, opens it, and withdraws something from it. He tosses it to her, and she barely catches it. When she sees it's a ring box, she looks at him suspiciously before opening it. She gasps at the ring in it. A beautiful ivory ring with a perfectly carved sapphire. "Don't lose it, it's a family heirloom," he says. She looks at him in surprise. He shrugs. "If we're to _act_ as fiancées, it would be less troublesome if we had rings to _prove_ it." Before she can ask about a ring for him, he shows her his left hand. On his ring finger is a gorgeous ivory wedding band.

"They're gorgeous," she whispers, slipping the ring Shikamaru had given her onto her own left ring finger. Surprisingly, the ring is a perfect fit. Shikamaru smirks at her compliment about the rings. They've been passed down for over a hundred generations in his family, from a time when poaching was actually legal. She smiles at him. "We should go soon, before the roads get crowded."

He nods, shoulders his backpack, and leads the way. Sakura follows close behind, settling her backpack to a more comfortable position on her shoulders. While they walk, Sakura thinks about everything she learned of Shikamaru yesterday and other things. They were never really 'close' friends. Or even friends at all. More like acquaintances and comrades. They do have a lot in common, but that didn't mean they are required to be friends. But it seems they always end up on the same missions lately. And this mission is the most, as he would say, troublesome of all. Pretending to be engaged to a man you've never really thought about. Sure, she thought of him on missions, but only because he was usually squad leader. But now … now it's just them. Alone with each other. For a month. A lot happens in a month; what happens this coming month could be very troublesome indeed.

Tsunade is certainly up to something. For that matter, Ino and Naruto seem to know what Tsunade is up to, but none of them would tell her. And she was supposed to be Tsunade's _apprentice._ But Naruto will be Rokudaime, so that may be a reason he's privy to what Tsunade's up to. And Ino's his girlfriend, so of course she'd know. Naruto and Ino are the biggest blabbermouths in Konoha, but even they can keep their yaps zipped if Tsunade threatens to hurt them if they open their big mouths.

Her thoughts move on to the Jounin in front of her. She decides that he is a good guy, despite his laziness. And he is rather handsome, in his own lazy way. And he's smart. Very smart. About as smart as she is; maybe smarter. And he enjoys shogi and go, among other strategy games. She found out he has yet to lose a game of shogi _or_ go. Until they started playing against each other, that is. They're equally matched on most strategy games.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru is thinking about the woman behind him. This mission could easily become troublesome since they have to pretend to be engaged. Sure, he always thought that she's pretty. Okay, scratch that. She's beautiful. But, until yesterday, he hardly knew a thing about her. He only knew what Ino said of her and what he's seen of her during their shogi matches and missions. Despite acting like they hate each other's guts, the two women are really best friends.

And now he and Sakura are going to spend a month together, alone with each other. Pretending to be engaged. Did he mention they have to pretend to be engaged for a whole _month?_ A whole lot can happen in a month. Most of which would be very troublesome indeed. He sneaks a glance at her to see she's deep in thought. 'Probably about this mission,' he thinks. He sighs.

"Something wrong, Shikamaru?" the woman behind him asks.

"Just thinking this is a troublesome mission," he replied lazily.

She laughs softly. "Very little _isn't_ troublesome for you," she states.

He nods in agreement. He glances at the sky through the tree canopy above them. Judging by the slant of the rays of sunlight filtering down, they've been walking for several hours and it's nearly noon. "We should stop for lunch," he suggests.

She smiles at him. "Okay," she agrees. She is rather hungry, but _she_ isn't about to complain. They find a meadow near the road and decide to eat lunch there. As Sakura unwraps a sandwich, she decides to ask Shikamaru about Cloud Country some more. "How far away is Cloud?" she asks. He gives her a curious look. "How long will it take us to get there?" she specifies.

"If we keep up this pace, we should reach the border around three tomorrow morning. If we keep going through the night, that is," he replies with a shrug.

Sakura wrinkles her nose at the long hike ahead of them. "What are the civilians and nin like?" she queries.

"Civilians aren't too bad. They're rather nosy though. I haven't been around the Cloud nin much. They do keep to themselves though, and don't enjoy when another country's nin are in their country," he says.

"Don't most nin want to keep another country's nin out?" Sakura asks. "With the exception of close, trusted allies of course."

"Point taken," Shikamaru sighs, then starts eating an apple, thinking about what they had been drafted into without forewarning. 'This is gonna be troublesome,' he thinks, finishing off his apple.

Sakura is silent as she reaches for the other apple they had brought for lunch. Shikamaru takes the other sandwich and carefully unwraps it. They finish up their meal in silence. Both of them are thinking hard on their mission. Again. They've been thinking about it, each other, or Tsunade's unknown scheme ever since they were given the mission yesterday. Neither slept well the night before, too preoccupied with the upcoming mission and their sudden 'engagement'. About ten minutes after they finish their lunch, they decide the should clean up their lunch spot and keep moving.

That evening

The two nin reach a small town and decide to grab dinner at one of the cafés. As they walk in, the older hostess takes quick note of the rings. "Are you married?" she asks conversationally.

"No, just engaged right now," Sakura says smoothly, leaning against Shikamaru. "We were sent on a mission soon after he proposed; our wedding will take place a few weeks after we get back from it." Shikamaru wraps his arm around Sakura's waist to back up the fib.

"Aww! How adorable," the hostess says sweetly, leading them to a table in the back. "You are such a lucky girl, having such a handsome man to come home to!"

Shikamaru blushes slightly while Sakura just laughs softly. "Looks can be quite deceiving," she giggles. "He's a rather lazy bum." Shikamaru sends her a soft glare, just to keep up the act. He'd admit it himself normally, though. "But that's what is most attractive about him; it makes him so patient and calm, even in the toughest of situations. We were dating for _years_ before he decided to propose. And we've known each other since we were just little kids in the academy." Well, they _have_ known each other since they were in the academy.

"Aww, how sweet! My husband and I were dating for eight years before he finally got the guts to propose. We tied the knot two weeks later," the hostess exclaims brightly. "Well, here's your table. I hope you enjoy your dinner." With that, the chatty hostess heads back to the front of the dining area to greet more hungry customers.

Shikamaru holds out Sakura's chair for her, like a most courteous gentleman. She smiles gently and brushes a hand softly against his as she sits down. "She's too nosy," Shikamaru states when he sits down.

Sakura chuckles. "It's the way of the world, _dear,"_ she says softly. "Not everyone is lazy and could care less of what happens to the world around them."

He gives her a look. "I'm not _that_ disinterested in the world," he says sourly.

She just gives him a warm smile. "I know. But you should tell that to Ino, Shino, Neji, Naruto, Tenten, Lee, and the rest of the village. They seem to think you are."

Before he can respond to that, a young waitress arrives. "Hello, I'm Magimi, and I'll be your waitress this evening. What would you like to drink?" she asks, her left hand ready to jot down their order on a pad of paper held by her other hand.

"Herbal tea, please," Sakura says.

"Same," Shikamaru says, not taking his eyes off of Sakura.

"Alright! Here are the menus, I'll be back in a few with your tea."

The two nin take the menus and open them to see what the café had to eat. "Oh! An all day breakfast?" Sakura gasps in surprise and delight. Shikamaru sighs. Ino told him just how fond Sakura is of the first meal of the day. And 'fond' is an extreme understatement. "Wow, what a selection," she murmurs. "If I could, I'd take 'em all"

Shikamaru sighs. "If you ate them all, you'll get sick," he says.

She gasps, glances at him, and blushes slightly. "I was talking out loud, wasn't I?" she asks, obviously embarrassed.

"Aa," he says.

She gives an embarrassed chuckle. "Well, it all looks and sounds so delicious," she says softly, going over the breakfast entrées.

He looks at the list and has to agree with her. Everything on it _does_ look and sound delicious. "True," he replies.

She grins at him and opens her mouth to say something when the waitress arrives with their drinks. "Have you decided what you would like to order?" Magimi asks sweetly.

Sakura smiles at her. "It all looks so good! It's hard to choose," she says.

Magimi gets a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Well then, why not order two separate entrées and share?" she asks.

Sakura smiles brightly as Shikamaru blushes slightly. 'Troublesome,' he thinks. "That's a great idea!" Sakura exclaims. "What do you think Shika-kun?"

He smiles minutely and nods. "Sure," he says, despite _not_ agreeing one bit. It's best not to anger Sakura. Even Ino was scared silly of truly angering Sakura now. 'Well, we didn't make Anbu at sixteen for nothing. And she's the best medic-nin in Leaf, surpassing even Tsunade-sama.' He glance at the menu, trying to decide what he'll choose.

"I'll order the Senbon Breakfast Platter," Sakura says gleefully. "What about you, Shika-kun?"

He glances over the list and sees a most delicious sounding entrée. "I'll take the Strawberry Hotcake Platter," he orders.

Sakura chuckles when the waitress leaves to take their order to the cook. "Strawberry Hotcake Platter?" she giggles.

He scowls. "I like strawberries," he states lazily.

She grins. "Strawberries are delicious," she agrees readily. She sighs then, as if a realization suddenly hit her full force and she didn't like it. "This is gonna be a troublesome mission."

"That's my line," he says, scowling again.

She merely smiles at him. "Just saying that I agree," she says softly.

He nods, his scowl returning to his usual lazy expression. "Ah," he voices.

After dinner

They are back on the road to Cloud Country, walking in silence. And Sakura was getting antsy. She _loathes_ silence more than anything. So she starts humming. Shikamaru glances at her before returning his gaze to the road ahead. He decides he likes her humming. Then she starts singing. He decides he likes that too.

"_How, how am I supposed to feel  
When everything surrounding me  
is nothing but a fake disguise  
I don't know,  
I don't know where I belong  
It's time for me to carry on  
I'll say goodbye"_

Shikamaru glances at the women in surprise. He knows from their conversation the previous day that Sakura likes _almost_ all forms of music and dance she has come across so far. But why she'd choose _that_ song to sing right now is beyond any reasoning he can think of. Too lazy to question her choice, he just listens to her sing.

"_I can't stop the rain from fallin'  
I'm drownin' in these tears I cry  
Since you left without a warning  
I face the dawn with sleepless eyes  
No I can't go on  
When clouds are pushin' down on me, boy  
I can't stop, I can't stop the rain  
From fallin'"_

Sakura smiles slightly as she notices Shikamaru lets his gaze rest more on her than on the road ahead of them. _**"CHA! HE'S WATCHING US! THIS IS SO GREAT! LET HIM HEAR YOU SING YOUR HEART OUT GIRL!"**_ Inner Sakura cheers, dancing around Sakura's mind. Sakura sends a dirty mental look at her inner self, but keeps singing anyways.

"_So, tell me where I went wrong  
I'm stuck inside a dream long gone  
It's hard to reveal the truth  
Your love,  
Is nothing but a bitter taste  
It's better if I walk away,  
Away from you_

"_I can't stop the rain from fallin'  
I'm drownin' in these tears I cry  
Since you left without a warning  
I face the dawn with sleepless eyes  
No I can't go on  
When clouds are pushin' down on me, boy  
I can't stop, I can't stop the rain  
From fallin'"_

Sakura sighs happily as she finishes her song. She notices the almost stunned look Shikamaru is giving her. "Nani? Do I sing that bad?" she asks, worried. She likes to sing a lot. If she sings that bad…

Shikamaru quickly shakes his head to rid himself of the surprise at her angelic voice. "Quite the opposite," he whispers softly, praying she hadn't heard him.

Too bad Fate wouldn't grant him his prayer. She beams up at him and wraps her arms around his waist. "Thank you," she says softly into the Jounin vest covering his chest. Shikamaru has the grace to blush a thousand shades of red. He quickly fights down the blush as she pulls away to smile at him. Thankfully, he succeeds… he hopes. But her smile is somehow knowing; almost as if she _knew_ he had just been blushing bright enough to put Gaara's hair to shame. She doesn't know about it though… does she? It is then they realize that they still have their arms around one another. Both leap back at the same time, blushing brightly. "L-let's, uh, keep g-going," Sakura stutters. "W-we won't get there just standing here."

"Y-yeah," he replies, also stuttering a bit. Then he inwardly scolds himself for doing that. He, Nara Shikamaru, did _not_ stutter! It's against his very image! But when she smiles shyly at him, he stops mid-rant and finds his lips quirking up in a smirk. She just looked so _cute_ when she does that, it's impossible not to smile back when she directs that smile on anyone. Well… almost impossible. The Uchiha bastard seemed to not realize what he had lost in pushing her away. Ugh! He can't be having thoughts like these! It would jeopardize the entire miss … wait, no it wouldn't. They're _supposed_ to act engaged, anyways. Couples seem to always think about each other, even when they're together. He sighs and mutters "troublesome woman."

He knows perfectly well that she heard him, and she proves it by glaring at him with the most insulted scowl he's ever seen. How she manages to put insult in an expression that usually signals only anger, he'll never know. He braces himself to be hit by one of her legendary punches. She punched Naruto through four walls before on several occasions. Four _brick_ walls ended up with Naruto-shaped holes in them once. But, exactly opposite of what he expects, she turns on her heel and continues walking down the road towards Cloud.

"Come on, we don't want to be walking all night," she says. He can tell she's barely suppressing her anger, and sighs. Instead of saying anything, he quickly catches up to her and they walk in silence. "At the next town we get to, we're checking into a hotel," she states.

He gives her a shocked look. She's the one who had suggesting walking almost all night to Cloud's border before finding a hotel. He sighs. 'Troublesome woman,' he thinks, making sure it doesn't pass his lips again. No since making her anger worse and wind up being punched through a few trees. And _he_ doesn't have a demon inside him that'd heal him up within a day, like Naruto does. _He'll_ be in pain for a while, if she didn't heal him.

Two hours later

It's after eleven at night when they _finally_ reach a town, not having passed one since that café about five hours back. They pass up several hotels, either too expensive or not up to standard. Finally, they find a cozy, moderately priced hotel near the far end of town. After being informed that the two are 'engaged', the clerk instantly gives them the honeymoon suite.

So now the two are standing in awkward silence just in front of the door of the room, looking at anything but each other. There's only one bed. And the floor is concrete covered with a thin, worn dark red carpet. No couch or chair. 'This is troublesome,' Shikamaru thinks. They have no choice _but_ to share the bed. And that makes the awkwardness of the situation even more pronounced. 'And awkward,' he adds to his earlier thought.

After standing there for ten more minutes, Sakura huffs. "Well, we're supposed to be 'engaged'," she states. "Engaged couples often share beds." Shikamaru sighs, realizing she's right. But that didn't make it any less troublesome… or any less awkward for that matter. As he opens his mouth to say that, she cuts in. "And don't say it's troublesome and awkward, because I'm already aware of that." He closes his mouth and scowls at her. Sakura sighs, grabs the shadow-user by the arm, and drags him to the bed. "If we don't get sleep tonight, we won't make good distance tomorrow. We'll just have to deal with having one bed," she says matter-of-factly, taking off her vest

Shikamaru sighs again, but has to agree with her. They need the sleep to reach the Hidden Cloud village tomorrow. So, biting the inside of his cheek, he takes off his own vest and lays on the bed as close to the edge as possible without falling off. Sakura takes the other side of the bed, laying as close to the edge as she can get without falling off. But considering that the bed is only slightly bigger than a double, they are still touching each other's back. Sakura is the first to fall asleep while Shikamaru tries to slow down his thoughts so he can sleep as well. After a few minutes, he succeeds and drifts off to slumber land.

But, during the time their minds are asleep, their bodies have other ideas of how they should be positioned. They turn towards each other. Sakura snuggles closer to Shikamaru, laying her head on his chest while his arms wrap lazily around her waist. They're bodies continue adjusting themselves until they resemble a human knot rather than two bodies.

* * *

Sarah: I was gonna write the entire journey in this chapter, but decided that it is gonna be way too long by the time they reach Cloud Country. So I decided to separate the two days of traveling into two chapters. On the topic of the story, what do you guys think Sakura-chan and Shikamaru-kun will act like when they wake up? Lemme know! 


	3. Second Day of Journey

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: Chapter 3 is here. I hope you guys enjoy it. There's gonna be a mention of Sasuke in this chapter, but not the way most people would think. I hope you like!

Ino: Sarah-chan doesn't own Naruto's series.

_**!SHOUT-OUTS!**_

I'd like to give a shout out to ItaSaku29! One of your guesses is correct! You'll have to see in the chapter!

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_What a rip-off of Deleria's story!_ --- well, you shouldn't make judgments on just the first chapter. There are so many fanfics out there that it'd be almost impossible to _not_ have parts of other peoples fics, whether knowingly or not. Don't judge a book by it's cover _or_ first chapter.

_Great story so far! Update soon!_ --- thank you all for the support.

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

"_Singing"_

"_**Inner Sakura talking to Sakura"**_

_Scene change in memory_

_**TRANSLATIONS**_

_Teme:_ bastard

* * *

Chapter 3

Second Day of Journey

Shikamaru wakes up first, around six in the morning. As he awakens, he slowly realizes _what_ position he is in with Sakura: a very compromising and troublesome one. Her legs are wrapped around his waist and her hands are clinging tightly to the back of his fishnet shirt. Her head is on his chest. His arms are around her waist in, what an onlooker would call, a possessive hug, holding her unnervingly close.

He realizes that if she wakes up and they are in this position, he may be in for one hell of a pounding. Even though _she's_ got her body wrapped so tightly around him he can't even move to release the hug. 'This is troublesome,' he thinks, a light blush decorating his cheeks.

Sakura stirs slightly, signaling she's waking up. Shikamaru closes his eyes and pretends to still be asleep, praying she'll fall for it. Her eyes flutter open as sleep slowly releases it's hold on her. Then her eyes snap open when she realizes what position they are in, all traces of sleep gone. She notes that he's awake and blushes crimson. "Shi-Shikamaru-kun?" she says timidly. "C-could you let g-go?"

He opens his eyes to give her a serious look. "I tried, I can't move with you wrapped around me like this," he says, obviously annoyed. She misses the small blush decorating his cheeks. She lets out an "eep" and quickly loosens her hold on his shirt, allowing his arms freedom to move. They carefully extract themselves from the knot they had been. Once free, they try to get rid of their blushes. Their efforts work slowly. Sakura grabs some clothes from her backpack and rushes into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. Shikamaru sighs. "Troublesome woman," he mutters, knowing she can't hear him now as the shower starts.

An hour later

It takes a full hour for them to get showered, dressed, and checked out of the hotel. They silently agree _not_ to mention the way they had woken up, to each other or anyone else. Now on the road outside of the small town, they can't _stop_ thinking about how they woke up, how their barely awake minds seemed to think the situation was as it should be until their minds actually _realized_ what the situation was.

To any passerby, the couple looked almost ready to either leap on each other or kill each other. But Sakura and Shikamaru keep their wits and self-control firmly in check. The awkward silence between them since they left the motel is really starting to unnerve them. And they know they will have to talk for this mission to be a success. But both are still too embarrassed to even try to ease the tension in the air. To distract herself, Sakura reaches into her vest and pulls out a novel. She opens it to the page she had marked and started reading it while walking.

Shikamaru raises an eyebrow at that. "You remind me of Kakashi-san," he states.

She chuckles. "How so?" she asks curiously.

"You're reading and walking."

"Oh. I guess since he was my teacher for so long, some of his traits rubbed off. Just glad I didn't get his late streak; Naruto took that trait," she jokes, smirking.

Shikamaru chuckles. "Ah, so _that's_ why Ino's always mad at him after dates."

"Most likely."

"So, what traits did … he … take?" he asks, avoiding saying the name of Sakura's last former teammate. No one ever says his name around her anymore. Not after what he did to her…

"Mysteriousness, moodiness, and secretiveness," Sakura replies immediately, not missing a beat, causing Shikamaru to chuckle again. With this, the tension finally lifts and they start conversing on other subjects to pass the time. Sakura puts her book back into her vest as they converse. There's no need for it now.

Four hours later

Shikamaru glances at Sakura. Ever since they passed Cloud's border two hours ago, she hasn't said a word. And that is very unlike her. He frowns. Something is making her nervous, he can tell by the way she keeps glancing around. Then he senses it too. Another nin somewhere in the wet forest around them, chakra on the very edges of his senses. The chakra feels very familiar, but he can't recall where he sensed it before. "Sakura?" he asks softly, his voice asking the question without the hassle of actually saying the words.

"It's _him_," she whispers fearfully. "Sasuke…"

At that, Shikamaru tenses, scowling. The Uchiha heir is now an S-class criminal, and has been for five years since his last betrayal. And after what he did just before his betrayal, he has earned eternal hatred from his home village and all who care for Sakura. He had nearly killed Sakura, when she merely tried to stop him from damning himself to the life of a criminal.

Sakura just barely made it out alive. He, Ino, and Naruto were nearby and heard her strangled scream of pain as his Chidori pierced her left shoulder, mere centimeters from taking out her heart or lung. They had barely gotten her to the hospital in time. All she did during her recovery from the surgery that saved her life was murmur the traitor's name and the word why over and over. She finally got over the near death experience, and the traitor who put her through it, two years later with the help of her friends and the village.

The Uchiha manor was burned to the ground soon after she was stabilized and in the care of the hospital and Tsunade; everything with the Uchiha fan emblem was also destroyed. The Uchiha clan had been completely wiped out in the massacre over thirteen years ago in the minds of everyone who found out about the near murder of Sakura.

The Kazekage had sent out hunter nin by the dozens in search of Uchiha Sasuke upon hearing Sakura had nearly been killed by said man. Gaara and his siblings always thought of Sakura as a little sister who's innocence they needed to protect. Sakura is one of the rarities among ninja. Despite having killed more than her fair share of enemies, she still retains an endearing innocent nature. Most shinobi and kunoichi lose that soon after graduating from the academy.

The teme was never found, though. And now he's reappeared, watching them from the forests of Cloud. Sakura shudders and huddles against Shikamaru's side. He instinctively wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her closer. He will kill the Uchiha on sight for what he had done to Sakura or die trying. Anyone who knew of what happened will, even if it were a civilian. She has an annoying way of being able to befriend anyone she meets, just like Naruto does. Except for the teme who nearly killed her.

Shikamaru's dark eyes glare at the forest around them as they continue making their way to the Hidden Cloud Village. It is still about three hours away, and Shikamaru is certain that the Uchiha will follow them the whole three hours. If the traitor comes into the open, Shikamaru won't hesitate to attack.

Just the thought of him watching them is causing Sakura to become extremely scared. She has a right to be; last time she and Sasuke were in the same place, he left her for dead. Shikamaru, Ino, and Naruto found her where he had left her and rushed her to the hospital. She literally _died_ on the operating table and Tsunade had to give her heart a jumpstart, so she was told. She will never consider Sasuke the way she used to, ever again. She is now absolutely terrified of even hearing the boy's name. Kakashi never uses his Sharingan around her anymore; it reminds her of the eyes Sasuke had last looked at her with; his Sharingan eyes glaring at her as he forcefully pulled his arm from inside her chest, letting her drop without an ounce of care or regret.

The two walk on, trying to ignore while painfully aware of the Uchiha heir watching them from the forest around them. Whatever he wants can _not_ be good, for them _or_ Konoha. Sakura tries to get as close to Shikamaru as she possibly can without having him actually carrying her. Shikamaru understands. It's her intense fear that is driving her to seek comfort from the nearest being of safety.

Basically, she needs him to comfort her. His arm tightens around her waist. Shikamaru senses the Uchiha's chakra spike dangerously before falling quickly to the faint pulse it had been. Whatever the reason it spiked for, it most likely involved the way they are currently walking so close, too close for Shikamaru's comfort. But the lazy nin doesn't complain. It's easier that she stay close; the closer the better. It'll be that much harder for Uchiha to do anything to her if she stayed so close to him.

In the forest

Sasuke scowls as the Nara prodigy hugs _his_ Sakura close to his side. He accidentally lets his chakra spike before quickly bringing it back under control. It's then that he notices the rings. Ivory wedding rings. _Left_ ring fingers. Oh… shit. They're engaged?! But when? They never really spoke to each other much in Konoha! Hardly at all actually. And they were rarely ever together outside of missions. His eyes narrow. Something isn't right. Sakura's chakra is flickering like she's scared to death of something. But what? He inches closer to hear their words. Hearing them talk should clear things up.

"Shika-kun," Sakura whispers, close to tears. "Don't let him get me." Sasuke's even more confused. Let _who_ get her?

Shikamaru nods solemnly. "I won't, Sakura, I won't," he promises. "That Uchiha-teme won't be around long if he tries to get you, I promise."

Sasuke's eyes widen in surprise. 'It's me… but why? Was it… oh god! When I find Itachi I'll make sure I kill him _slowly_ and _painfully,'_

With one last, longing look on the pink-haired angel he has loved ever since he first met her, he takes off in search of Itachi. His brother will _pay_ for hurting _her_.

With Shikamaru and Sakura

Sakura looks at the forest in surprise. Sasuke's chakra had spiked twice before taking off at lightning speed in the opposite direction. What is he planning? Obviously nothing good can come of this.

"This could turn out troublesome," Shikamaru sighs, running his free hand through his hair.

Neither of them notice that they are still clinging tightly to each other as they continue to make their way towards Kumogakure. When they see Kumogakure's gates come into view, though, _then_ they realize that they are just a little too close for either of their comforts. Sakura delicately releases her death-grip on his Jounin vest and moves a few inches away. But when he moves to take his arm from around her waist, she shakes her head, her hand on his to keep his arm around her waist. "It has to look believable," she says in response to his surprised look. He thinks it over for a moment, then nods. His arm relaxes around her waist as she leans her head against his shoulder. Yep, they looked like the perfect engaged couple. Now to _keep_ acting engaged. _That_ will be the troublesome part.

The Cloud nin at the gate read their ninja papers a thorough, then compare the pictures with them, and finally, about ten minutes later, allow the two to pass. They let civilian couples pass with just a quick check for weapons. Obviously, like in most Hidden Villages, you have to make sure the nin are who they _say_ they are. Or you could wind up in big trouble. After all, there _are_ a lot of S-class criminals around nowadays.

* * *

Sarah: okay, next chapter will be about them exploring Kumogakure and gathering some information. 


	4. Startling Information

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: here's the fourth chapter. Wow, this is getting typed up fast. I only started on it just twenty-four hours ago and I'm already on chapter four.

Kiba: Sarah-chan doesn't own Naruto-baka's series.

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_So Sasuke never really hurt her?_ Nope!

_So Itachi's the one who hurt Sakura?_ Yep!

_I don't pity Sasuke._ Me neither. I don't like him much, unless it's a Sasu/Naru pairing.

_**EXPLAINATION**_

_**Since this won't ever come out in the fanfic, I'll tell you what happened to Sakura:**_

Itachi used a Genjutsu on Sakura and had used his Sharingan to 'copy' Chidori to use on Sakura. That made Sakura positive it was Sasuke; after all, it _was_ a powerful Genjutsu. Sakura may be a master at detecting Genjutsu, but even she can get too worked up to realize she's in one. Especially when Sasuke's involved.

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

"_Singing"_

"_**Inner Sakura talking to Sakura"**_

_Scene change in memory_

_**INDEX**_

_Aa:_ yes _**informal**_

_Hitai-ate:_ the forehead protector with the emblem of their country of origin carved into it.

_Imi, kinki:_ taboo

_Izakaya:_tavern

* * *

Chapter 4

Startling Information

As they walk through Kumogakure streets looking for a nice hotel, Shikamaru and Sakura are painfully aware of the looks and whispers of how cute they are together. She is trying to hide her blush by turning her head slightly into his side. That doesn't help with _his_ blush though. Not one bit.

They have already informed the Raikage that they are here and that there is an s-class criminal in the forests, giving the name of the criminal. The Raikage thanked them for the information, saying he will send hunter nin out immediately. An s-class criminal shouldn't be on the loose in any of the countries. The Raikage also agreed to have this particular criminal escorted by _two_ squads of Anbu to Leaf Village for his punishment. Even he has heard what this criminal had done eight years ago before becoming an s-class criminal.

After about ten more minutes, they come across a very nice hotel. They go in and get a room for the next month. As with the hotel last night, they wind up with the honeymoon suite. This time, the bed is a queen size. There's a small loveseat, but no chairs. The carpet is plush and thick under their feet, but they can feel the hard wood underneath even through their ninja sandals.

Again, they will have to share the bed. The loveseat is to small for either of them to sleep comfortably on it. Spending even a single night on the floor will make the back and muscles of whoever sleeps there start aching. At least this time the bed is a bit larger, they can have a bit more space between them while they sleep. Sakura scowls at the room. One night in the same bed led to a very embarrassing situation when they woke up. Having to spend a month of nights in the same bed could lead to something far more embarrassing. Unknown to her, Shikamaru's scowl is because of some _very_ troublesome thoughts rather than the predicament they're in.

'I shouldn't be thinking of her like _this!_ It's just wrong!' he scolds himself silently. But he can't help but think about how perfectly they fit together when they were waking up this morning. And how her shirt hung off her shoulder to show just enough of her chest to make any man blush. And his subconscious keeps showing him images of far more troublesome situations. He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts. Thinking of Sakura like _that_ can only lead to extreme pain if she ever finds out.

"Well, now that we have a hotel room, we should go explore the village," Sakura says. Shikamaru nods in agreement. Exploring the village will distract him from the disturbing and troublesome thoughts he has had since they found out they were getting the honeymoon suite. "We do need to make connections before the conference starts Friday."

"Aa," Shikamaru says.

With that, they toss their bags on the bed to be unpacked later, and head to the service counter of the hotel to see where the civilians and nin frequent. Thanking the man behind the desk after receiving two lists of all the hotspots in the village and a visitors map, they leave the hotel altogether to start checking out the places on the lists.

They decide to check out the ninja hotspots first, since the list is much shorter than the civilian hotspots. It mostly contains bars that serve only ninjas, whether local or foreign. They head for the most popular one, making sure their hitai-ate are firmly in place and visible. Above the door is a sign that reads: _Imi Kinki _**_Izakaya._** At the door to the bar, two shinobi, both looking about Jounin level, stand checking the hitai-ates to make sure it's real.

They are informed that civilians, both visitors and local, make fake hitai-ates to try to sneak into the ninja bars. But civilians can't make fake hitai-ates look anything near realistic, and are easily sorted out. Even ninjas can't make hitai-ates. That job is left to a special few who are sworn to secrecy that will result in death if the information leaks out. And nobody knows _who_ these makers of hitai-ates are so it is that much harder to get the information.

After they are allowed to pass, the two Leaf nin receive the familiar scents of smoke, liquor, sweat, and other such smells one will find in a bar. The bar is dimly lit and they can see nin from various countries around the bar, boasting various levels of intoxication. "We should split up to get more information," Shikamaru says just loud enough for Sakura to hear him over the noise of the drunken ninjas. Sakura nods and heads for the counter while Shikamaru heads for the back of the bar.

"Hey pretty kunoichi," the barkeeper greets. "Whatcha doing here alone?"

"Oh, I'm not alone," Sakura says, showing off her ring. "I'm here with my fiancé. He went to the back of the bar to see some old friends of his while I wait here for him."

"Ah, pardon meh, I hadn't known," the barkeeper says, grinning. "Care to point him out to meh?"

Sakura smiles and turns. "See the handsome one with high ponytail? With brown hair and dark eyes? That's my boy," Sakura purrs.

"Seems you snatched yourself a nice shinobi. He seems to be strong and sweet-tempered."

"Oh he is! If I can get him to stop being lazy and watching the clouds all day, that is," she laughs. "I swear that if he could, he'd marry a cloud instead of a human!" she teases.

The barkeeper laughs. "Ah, that sounds quite frustrating," he says.

"Oh, it is!" Sakura exclaims truthfully.

"What's your name pretty kunoichi? Care for a drink?" her conversation partner asks.

"Oh, my name's Sakura. My fiancé's name is Shikamaru. We were sent here by the Hokage to attend a conference of sorts," Sakura says. The bartender nods and doesn't question further; he knows that shinobi are always going on strange missions, ranging from weeding a garden for Genin to assassination for Anbu and Jounin. He hears about the different missions all the time. He sometimes wishes he could be a shinobi for the adventure. But he isn't wiling to die for anyone, and killing is just not his thing. "And sure, some whiskey would be nice."

"I didn't take ye as a whiskey lover, Sakura-san. I figured it'd be more wine or sake that suits your fancies."

"Oh, I enjoy sake, but wine is just too mellow. But I prefer whiskey over all. And a bit of sake for my boy back there," Sakura says smoothly.

"Right away, Sakura-san," the bartender says.

Sakura decides to ask the bartender about a few small things to do with their mission. "So, have you heard any news about Konoha, sir?" she asks conversationally.

"Oh plenty," the bartender says. "And the name's Adrian."

"What have you heard, Adrian-san?" she inquires.

Adrian looks around to make sure their conversation isn't overheard. "Well, between ye and meh, our Cloud nin sometimes talk about something big that's going to happen to Konoha soon. They never say what, but from their looks and tones, I can tell ye it's nothing near good. Just don't let anyone know I told ye; I rather fancy staying alive and working meh bar," he says very softly, setting her whiskey and Shikamaru's sake in front of her.

"Thank you, Adrian-san," Sakura says, taking a sip of her drink. "My boy doesn't like me paying for anything, but I'm sure I can convince him to, how do you say, give a little bit for this information."

"Ye are a mighty fine lass, Sakura-san," Adrian says "Hard to believe ye are a kunoichi. And I so envy that boy of yours. To have a girl such as ye to come home to," he continues, a wistful look on his face.

Sakura blushes lightly. Then she senses Shikamaru approaching. "Ah, there you are," his lazy drawl says in fake surprise from behind her. Sakura smiles up at him and hands him his sake. "Thanks, hun," he says, bending down near her ear. "Did you get anything from him?" he whispers in her ear.

She nods slightly and Shikamaru takes the seat next to her. "It's not a problem. Let's have our drinks and leave the nice man something for his troubles," she says cheerily. "We might come back for more soon, Adrian-san! You have such a nice bar." Adrian nods, acknowledging her hidden message.

Shikamaru nods in agreement and takes a seat beside her. He notices the half-empty whiskey glass in front of Sakura and suppresses the urge to raise an eyebrow. 'I didn't know she liked whiskey,' he thinks. He drinks his sake while keeping an eye on his teammate. She finishes the whiskey in one quick swallow, not looking the least bit drunk. She orders another one and Shikamaru shakes his head. 'She's going to get drunk,' he thinks. Then he pauses for a moment. 'Then again, she _is_ Tsunade-sama's apprentice. She may have developed an immunity to liquor.'

Sakura finishes her second glass of whiskey in three swallows while Shikamaru finishes his sake. Shikamaru leaves money for the drinks and about fifty extra yen under her whiskey glass. The bartender nods to them. When they get up to leave, the bartender takes the money, pocketing the extra yen and placing money for the drinks in the register.

When they leave, they are surprised to see that it's night already. Evidently, they were in the bar longer than they thought. They decide to find a place to get some food so that their bodies don't take in all the liquor. That could be bad. They scan the list and agree on a small diner that's near their hotel.

Well, it _sounded_ like a small diner. Then they reach it and realize it is one of the fanciest restaurants they've ever seen. They exchange a look and decide to go somewhere not so fancy. They aren't dressed for fancy at the moment. Sure, they brought fancy clothes. They knew that they will have to go to some fancy places to get all the information they can. And to keep up the charade of being engaged, of course.

After a few minutes search, they find a small seafood diner and decide to eat there. After dinner, they head to their hotel room. They quickly but carefully search the room for any sort of device for eavesdropping or watching them. Finding none, they set up small traps for anyone who tries to snoop around. A cleaning person won't spring the traps, but someone searching their stuff will. Then they unpack their bags and store their belongings in the two dressers and small closet

After all that, they sit on the bed to go over what they found out today. Well, Sakura lies on the bed while Shikamaru sits next to her. Sakura starts, telling Shikamaru about what the barkeeper had said. Then he informs her of some startling news a few fellow Leaf nin and some Sand nin had found out during their stay here. It seems that Cloud is _definitely_ planning something, and that the country _may_ have made bargains with a few missing nin to go along with the plan, whatever it may be.

They sit in silence for a while. "We should inform Tsunade-sama," Sakura says at last. "Even though we don't know what's going to happen, it will be best if Leaf is made aware of the danger."

Shikamaru nods in agreement. He grabs a scroll and pen nearby then quickly writes a coded message to be sent to Konoha, explaining what's going on in a way no one would think of it to be an important message unless they _know_ it's important. Sakura reads it over his shoulder as he writes and nods her approval when he's done. "We'll send it with one of the Leaf nin back to Konoha tomorrow," Shikamaru says. "A few of the ones I talked to earlier are heading back since their missions are done."

Sakura nods and smiles warmly at him, causing his breath to hitch in his throat for a second. "That's good; I'd _hate_ to have a Cloud nin take it to Konoha and figure it out on the way," she replies softly.

"Yeah, that would be troublesome," Shikamaru sighs. Then he realizes that Sakura is still looking at the paper over his shoulder. He blushes slightly and rolls up the scroll. Sakura gets the point and moves away from him.

She grabs her PJs from the drawer and heads into a little area that can be closed off with folding doors so you can dress there instead of in the bathroom. She quickly changes into her PJs, deciding to get a shower in the morning. She takes her hair out of the braid she keeps it in during the day and goes back to the main part of the room.

Shikamaru looks up when the doors open again and blushes. Sakura's PJs are actually just a pair of _very_ short shorts and a tube top, both in sea green, with cherry blossom patterns decorating the tube top. And her long hair out of its braid just adds on to the overall look, her bangs framing her face and a bit of her hair over one shoulder while the rest hangs down back to end a little below her waist.

Sakura tilts her head to the side in curiosity. 'Why's he looking at me like that?' she wonders. She shrugs, turns towards the mirror hanging on the wall to start brushing her long hair. Shikamaru quickly takes his eyes off her and grabs his boxers to head into the little side room to change.

Sakura sees Shikamaru walk out in his boxers in the mirror, since she's _still_ brushing her hair. She blushes slightly. 'I didn't know he's _that_ hot!' she thinks in surprise.

'**Hell yeah! Go get him girl! Give him the best kiss of his life!'** Inner Sakura screams.

Sakura sends her inner self a scowl. 'No,' she thinks firmly. 'No way! He's my teammate! I can't kiss him out of the blue!'

'**Oh but you **_**will**_** have to kiss him sometime on this mission! Why not now?'** inner Sakura says, grinning like mad.

'No. We're not in public where we have to pretend to be engaged. So no,' Sakura thinks to her inner self. She sees Shikamaru watching her. 'He's … blushing?' she thinks, startled. A few minutes later, when she's done brushing her hair and has her blush under control, she turns towards the bed. She notes that Shikamaru quickly takes his eyes off of her. 'Yep, he's blushing.'

'**HA! He likes you!'**

'Just because he's blushing doesn't mean anything. He might be embarrassed and annoyed of having to share the same bed with me for the next month,' Sakura reasons.

"**Uh-huh. You're totally in denial.'**

'Oh shut up!'

'**Whatever you say, captain,'** inner Sakura says, saluting Sakura.

Meanwhile, Shikamaru's trying to fight down his blush. He has been staring at Sakura for over ten minutes while she was brushing her hair. He started wondering what her hair would feel like. That leads to wondering what it would be like to hold her. And _that_ leads to wondering what kissing her would be like. And _then_ she turns around, done brushing her hair. He quickly takes his eyes off her, embarrassed about being caught staring.

Sakura shakes her head as Shikamaru's blush fades, she turns to the bed and crawls under the silk covers. Soon, she's fast asleep. All the traveling and lack of sleep has exhausted her. Shikamaru sits on the bed near her, watching her sleep. He can't help but notice how innocent she looks when she's asleep. He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. 'Ugh. This is not happening,' he thinks, sighing. He decides to go to sleep before his mind can go down _that_ track … again. He just prays that they don't wake up like they had this morning. That would be most troublesome.

But soon after he falls asleep, his prayers go unheard. Her body is the first to move towards him and wraps her arms around him. Her eyes open as Inner Sakura takes control of her mistress's sleeping body. Her eyes aren't bright green like Sakura's. Instead they are a very dark blue-green, almost black. Inner Sakura smirks and arranges Shikamaru's body around hers and her mistress's body around his so that they are sleeping in a knot again. Her work done, Inner Sakura goes back into the recess's of Sakura's mind, cackling to herself.

They are going to get the message sooner or later, even if Inner Sakura has to take charge while her mistress is awake and kiss the man. Inner Sakura knows more about her mistress than _she_ does. Inner Sakura always speaks what Sakura wants to say but is too polite to. And Inner Sakura knows her mistress's feelings just as well as her mistress. Only her mistress doesn't like to admit some things for fear of embarrassing herself or being rejected. Inner Sakura has no such qualms.

* * *

Sarah: well, Inner Sakura is being a _very_ naughty girl, ne? Review and I'll try to update soon! But no threats please. I am but a humble girl trying her best to type up the ideas in her brain in a good format. 


	5. No Inhibitions

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: Chapter five. Lovely. Well, this chapter will have some fluff. Hope you guys enjoy!

Naruto: Sarah-chan doesn't own my series. Nor does she own "Dreamin' of You:" by Celine Dion. She _does_ own her ideas and this fic. Don't steal.

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

"_Singing"_

"_**Inner Sakura talking to Sakura"**_

_Scene change in memory_

_**INDEX**_

_Shishou:_ teacher, master

* * *

Chapter 5

No Inhibitions

Shikamaru holds back the urge to groan. His prayers from last night had not been answered. Now they are in an even more troublesome and a _lot_ more embarrassing position around each other. Sakura opens her eyes to look directly into his. They both blush, and try to separate without touching each other anywhere inappropriate. It doesn't work. By the time they extract themselves from the knot, they are both blushing bright enough to put even Gaara's hair to shame.

Sakura grabs some nice clothes for today and rushes into the bathroom, closing both the folding doors _and_ the bathroom door behind her. Getting dressed in a bathroom is very awkward and often painful when the bathroom is this small. While Sakura is taking a shower, Shikamaru explores the other rooms to the honeymoon suite. Behind another set of folding doors is a room with a large, heart-shaped Jacuzzi.

He blushes at the thoughts that flood into his head. Okay, he's a single twenty-one-year old guy who is on a mission in the sole company of a gorgeous, single twenty-one-year-old woman, sharing a single suite _and_ a single bed for the next month. Of course he's going to have some perverted thoughts. But he's also more than smart and mature enough _not_ to act on such juvenile thoughts and urges.

He heads back into the main room of the suite when he hears the water stop in the bathroom. He also grabs some nice clothes to put on after his own shower. The folding doors that lead to the closet and sink area before the bathroom open. He looks up to see a sight he wishes he hadn't looked up to see. Sakura is in clothing yes. Very nice clothing, at that. But it shows more skin than anyone but a lover needs to see. And the clothing itself is skin tight. She is brushing her hair into a high ponytail, though it still falls almost to her waist.

Her shirt can't even be called that. It's more like a bit of skin tight light blue cotton fabric around her chest with butterfly-wing sleeves. It ends a good three inches above her naval. And then there's another three inches below her naval before you get to the _very_ short jean shorts. They barely cover her pelvic area, going down barely two inches past her pelvic and having a very low waist. In other words, Sakura is showing _much_ more skin than necessary.

She ties a rose red ribbon around her hair band to make it look nice. She then ties her hitai-ate in its usual position and turns to smile at him. "Your turn, Shika-kun," she says, walking over to a table she had set some make-up on earlier.

He nods numbly, grabs his clothes, and takes his shower, closing the folding doors and the bathroom door behind him. All that runs through his mind while he showers and gets dress is the image of Sakura's butt as she bent over the table to apply her make-up.

She sees Shikamaru watching her in the mirror as she is brushes her hair into the ponytail. Once she opened the doors and he looked up, he can't take his eyes off of her. Well, to be precise, he can't take his eyes off her butt.

She rarely ever puts on outfits like this. And that's only because every time she wears outfits that show this much skin every guy who sees can't take their eyes off her, even _if_ their girlfriends, fiancés, or wives are right there, yelling in their ears.

She _knows_ she's got a sexy body and loves to flaunt it. All four Leaf kunoichi from when she was a Genin grew up into _sexy,_ strong young women. A few years ago, Sakura, Ino, and Tenten manage to get Hinata past her humble shyness. Now, the Hyuuga heiress is just as rowdy and outgoing as her girlfriends. And the four girls _love_ going out on the town. They get dressed in their skimpiest outfits, or party outfits as they call them, and meet up at one of their house's, usually Sakura's or Ino's. Then they strut their stuff just walking to the mall or a bar.

When in their party outfits, the girls are able to get _any_ guy to fall at their feet. Gaara and Neji found that out the hard way. When Temari's in town, all five girls make sure to hit every bar in town in their party outfits. They cause even the most perverted of the male population to have a nosebleed. And they use _that_ on Jiraiya when they want something from him.

Sakura hums to herself while putting on some light eye shadow and strawberry lip gloss. She slips into a pair of fancy shoes, white sandals that have low heals. White leather bands wrap around her toes, ankle, and up her legs a few inches. They are a lot more comfortable and sturdy than they look. Sakura is even able to run in them if she has to without worrying about losing them. She looks up as Shikamaru opens the folding doors. And she just about has a heart attack. Shikamaru still has his hair up in it's usual style. But instead of his usual outfit, he has on black jeans, a white wife beater that shows off his muscular chest, and a leather jacket. His hitai-ate is still tied in it's usual location on his arm, over the jacket sleeve. In other words, he looks _hot!_

She quickly straightens her shocked expression to a smile before he looks in her direction. But no amount of trying or praying could keep him from seeing the pink tinge on her cheeks. He smirks and she scowls at him for finding her blush funny. That just causes his smirk to grow larger. She huffs and looks away. "Well, where will we be going today?" she asks.

Shikamaru shrugs and tosses the list of civilian hotspots to her. She catches it without even glancing at him. "You choose," he says. "We should see what the civilians know. Rumors _do_ spread from ninjas to civilians."

Sakura nods and looks at the list. "Hmm," she mumbles, scanning the list in her right hand while her other hand is positioned on her hip, while her right hip is jutted out slightly. And Shikamaru can't help but blush at how sexy she looks doing that. Then he quickly scolds himself for thinking that. She's his _teammate,_ for Christ's sake! You can't go around thinking _that_ about your _teammate!_ 'Of course, she _does_ have a sexy butt… oh Kami! I need to stop thinking like that. This is _Sakura-chan!'_ he thinks.

"Oh! A karaoke bar!" she exclaims suddenly. "I love karaoke!"

Shikamaru sighs. "Great… another bar," he mutters, annoyed. "Just don't get drunk," he warns her.

Sakura giggles. "You forget who my shishou is!" she laughs. "Tsunade-shishou says that 'a kunoichi has to know how to function even if she has enough liquor in her system to knock most people out.' So she kept getting me drunk until I developed a sort of immunity to it."

"Great," Shikamaru sighs sarcastically. She just grins cheekily at him.

"Well, let's go! It's on the other side of the village!" Sakura says, grabbing his arm and dragging him out of the hotel, after making sure that her lip gloss, eye shadow, wallet, and the room key are in her purse of course. She stops by _Imi Kinki_ to hand the coded message over to a fellow Leaf nin that's heading back to Konoha. Then she drags him to the karaoke bar.

Shikamaru notices the looks everyone else is sending them and shifts uncomfortably. All the women are watching him, and that's just awkward. But all the men are watching Sakura's butt and breasts, and that's plain perverted. Shikamaru wraps his arm possessively around her waist, not even stopping to think about it. She smiles and leans her head on his shoulder as they walk across the village.

Sakura giggles as Shikamaru shoots glares at the guys who are still watching Sakura's butt or breasts. Most of them quickly get the hint and avert their eyes somewhere else. But a few seem to pretend _he_ doesn't exist. One of them actually comes up to them. "Hey sugar," he purrs. "Why not ditch your boyfriend here and find a far sexier man? Like me."

Sakura laughs as Shikamaru sends him the angriest look he can manage; and that's pretty angry. "Oh, I can't ditch a boyfriend cause I don't have one. Are you referring to my fiancé here?" she asks coyly, her hand resting on the one Shikamaru has on her hip.

"F-f-fiancé?!" the guy stutters in shock.

"Oh yes, but don't stay and make him mad. You wouldn't like it when he's mad," Sakura replies, smirking. "Usually it's so hard to anger him; but when it comes to me… well, that's a different story."

"Back off," Shikamaru snarls. The guy squeaks and runs in the other direction.

Sakura laughs and looks up at him. "I think you took that a little far in the protective department," she teases. Shikamaru huffs, and turns his gaze forward.

"C'mon, we can't reach the karaoke bar just standing here," he mutters. She laughs and walks with him the rest of the way to the bar. No more incidents like the above happen, for which Shikamaru is extremely grateful.

Sakura grins. "Get us some drinks, love. I wanna go sing a song," she says, gently pushing him towards the counter. Shikamaru sighs but doesn't argue. It'll be too troublesome to argue with her, as it will end only in pain and him obeying anyways.

But he keeps a close eye on her the entire time as she makes her way to the stage. He orders some sake for him and a shot of whiskey for her when she's done singing. She reaches the stage the same time the drinks arrive. He takes a sip, wondering what she'll sing. He knows for fact she has an amazing voice, she proved that on the journey here.

"Excuse me," she says into the microphone. The bar quiets down and everyone turns to sexy woman on the stage. "I'd like to dedicate a song to my fiancé over there by the bar," she says sweetly. Shikamaru blushes slightly as attention is turned briefly to him before returning to Sakura. She says something softly to the man operating the karaoke machine. He nods, types something into the consol, and music flows out of the speakers.

She bobs her head in time with the music and starts singing on cue, her beautiful voice flowing out over the crowd. As she starts, not a sound is made anywhere in the bar. Even the people coming in don't make much noise.

"_Lyin' in my bed  
Thoughts in my head  
Visions of you  
But I can't get through the night_

"_So pick up the phone  
I know you're home  
you're playin' with my heart  
and you know that it just ain't right_

"_It's just a game of love, love, love  
and even though it's hard baby  
I can never give you up_

"_You're the one I'm dreamin' of  
I can't live without your love  
Tonight  
and it's you that I adore  
you're the one that I live for  
Inside  
Of you, I'm dreamin' of you_

"_So I get in the car  
but I didn't get far  
'Cause the radio played  
every song that I sang with you_

"_Yesterday's gone  
and it may be true  
but you know that  
I'll never get over you_

"_It's just a game of love, love, love  
and even though it hurts me baby  
I can never give you up_

"_'Cause you're the one I'm dreamin' of  
I can't live without your love  
Tonight  
and it's you that I adore  
you're the one that I live for  
Inside  
Of you, I'm dreamin' of you_

"_You, you gave me love  
Love gave us hope and strength  
to carry on and  
you, you gave me faith  
When I was fallin' down  
you would pick me up, my love_

"_You're the one I'm dreamin' of  
I can't live without your love  
Tonight  
and it's you that I adore  
you're the one that I live for  
Inside  
Baby, baby, baby, baby  
_

"_You're the one I'm dreamin' of  
I can't live without your love  
Tonight  
and it's you that I adore  
you're the one that I live for  
Inside  
Baby  
I'm dreamin' of you…"_

Shikamaru has gone through four glasses of sake during the song, not believing his ears. 'Does she really mean this for me?' he thinks in shock. The other people in the bar are applauding Sakura's performance. 'Or is it part of the charade? Man, this girl is so troublesome.'

Sakura gives him a sweet smile as she gets off the stage, weaving through the crowd to get to him as he orders another glass of sake. "Careful, you might get drunk if you keep drinking sake like that," Sakura teases, taking a gulp of her whiskey. He just smirks as he drinks his sake. "Don't say I didn't warn you tomorrow morning. And don't get upset with me if you get so drunk I have to carry you back to the hotel," she states as he orders a sixth glass of sake. She had finished her first shot of whiskey, so she orders some more and downs it as quickly as the first.

He shrugs as he drinks his sake and orders more. He keeps ordering until he's had about a dozen glasses of sake. Sometimes, getting drunk helps stop some annoying or awkward thoughts from coming. But sadly, and annoyingly, he is one of those people who remembers _exactly_ what happens when drunk. But it does dampen his inhibitions big time, allowing him the freedom to follow urges he would normally push away.

One such urge is to pull Sakura, who's standing beside him, into his lap. So he does, situating her so that she is facing him with their chests touching and her legs straddling his hips as she sets her whiskey glass on the bar behind them. He doesn't miss the smirk on her lips. Her full, luscious, rose pink lips. The next urge is to kiss those lips senseless.

He slams his mouth onto hers and she instantly melts into the kiss, her hands trailing up to wrap around his neck and pull him closer. His arms wrap around her waist to pull her so close to his body that even air molecules can't get between them. His tongue flicks out, caressing those soft lips. She moans and parts her lips. He dives into her mouth, exploring every crevice with his tongue before battling for dominance with hers. Inner Sakura is cheering and celebrating during the kiss. But Sakura just locks her up in a mental closet. No need for her opinion right now!

Her hands start to trail slowly down his front, over his muscular chest and six-pack. Just as she reaches his hips, though, she slides her hands around to his back and trails them up his back, exploring his back as she had his front. 'For being so lazy all the time, he sure is wild when making out,' she thinks fleetingly, before all thoughts leave her mind as his hands work around to her front and carefully, gently massage her breasts through the thin fabric of her shirt. She moans again at the feel of his hands doing something _so_ intimate with her. Soon, they have to pull back for air. But that only lasts a few seconds before their lips crash into each others again.

The rest of the bar hoots and hollers at the sight of the intense make-out session between the engaged couple. Before they get further than a major make-out session that leaves both of them breathless, Sakura pulls back. Shikamaru tries to pull her back to him, but she refuses. "Not in public, Shika-kun," she says softly. He pouts but she stands her ground. "And I don't think you'll be very happy in the morning if we go any further tonight," she continues, knowing that he remembers what happens when he's drunk even if he has enough liquor in his body to knock out most citizens. Somehow, shinobi have a much higher liquor tolerance level than civilians.

He sighs disappointedly but agrees. When his common sense kicks back in, he'll be totally pissed with himself for going as far as they already have. "We should head back to the hotel. With you as drunk as you are, we won't get much information today," Sakura says softly.

Shikamaru huffs but lets her get off his lap. She stands up and pulls him up. And he almost falls over; he'd have hit his head on the bar if Sakura hadn't caught him. "I see you're one of the ones who lose their balance when inebriated," she comments dryly. He glares at her. "C'mon, I'll help ya back to the hotel," she says, putting his arm around her shoulder. As soon as they leave the bar, the brighter light outside makes Shikamaru wince. "Hm. Extreme sensitivity to light as well, eh? Oh well. Can't change that. It'll be night soon, anyways." He doesn't say or do anything in response. "Oh, so this is going to be a one-sided conversation, eh? No matter. I've dealt with the non-talkative type before. But, it's really your own fault you're drunk, ya know? I told you that that much sake might make you so drunk I'd have to carry you back to the hotel. And what am I doing now? Supporting almost your full weight on the walk back to the hotel, that's what! If you had listened to me, you wouldn't _need_ me to help you to the hotel! And …"

Shikamaru is currently wishing she'd just _shut up_ and get them to the hotel soon. It was only _after_ her second glass of whiskey was absorbed into her system that she started talking a lot. So he can safely assume that liquor, despite not affecting her senses, speed, or reaction time, enough of it makes her talkative. _Very_ talkative. And he _hates_ talkative people! They are so troublesome. Five minutes later, a very annoyed, drunken Shikamaru and a very talkative, hyper Sakura are in their hotel suite. Shikamaru manages to walk himself to the bed, lie down, and go to sleep instantly.

Sakura giggles. "I better prepare him something for the hangover tomorrow," she murmurs to herself. "Or we won't be able to make _any_ civilian contacts before the treaty conference." With that, she grabs the med-pack **(basically a very fancy first aid kit with stuff medic nins need to treat most wounds, poisons, aches, etc)** she had brought. Then she sets about making a small potion that gets rid of any ache, including hangovers. Smiling, she stirs it into some herbal tea and sets it on the table to let it settle over night then crawls into bed to get some sleep. But seeing as Shikamaru is taking more than his fair share of the bed, she has to lay curled up beside him. In his sleep, he wraps an arm possessively around her waist and pulls her closer. She smiles softly and lays her head back on his chest before closing her eyes to let the comforting darkness of sleep take over.

* * *

Sarah: well, that's a good way to end this chapter. I hope you liked the fluff! Okay, so it's drunken fluff, but fluff is fluff! REVIEW! Flames will be used for toasting marshmallows to make s'mores. S'mores will be shared with the nice reviewers! But _only_ with the reviewers. So if you want s'mores, REVIEW! 


	6. More Information

Love is Troublesome

DG32173

Sarah: here's chapter six! In this chapter, Sakura and Shikamaru _may_ get a civilian contact. I'm not telling if they do or not here. You have to read the chapter!

Tsunade: she doesn't own Naruto's series.

_**!!!CHAPTER WARNINGS!!!**_

SPOILERS FROM CHAPTERS 328-330 OF THE MANGA!

_**REVIEW REPLIES**_

_I never had s'mores. _--- WHAT?! NEVER HAD S'MORES?! You poor, poor child! They are an absolute must in a person's life… unless they're allergic to chocolate, marshmallows, or graham crackers. **(gives Sanna-Sain a dozen s'mores)** ENJOY!

_Any kind of fluff is good._ --- couldn't agree with ya more! Well, I like non-inebriated fluff the best, but all fluff is wondrous.

_Is the next chapter going to be when they are at the treaty conference?_ --- no. I don't plan on the treaty conference to start until chapter nine at the earliest. It'll be _way_ boring to write, but I'll try to make it somewhat interesting.

_I like your steady update rate._ --- well, after this, there will be a good while between updates. I've gotten stuck on a point in the next chapter and I need to bring forth ideas for it. And I've also got a lot going on in real life too, so I won't be on my computer much for a while.

_Me want MARSHMELLOWS!_ --- **(laughs)** here are some s'mores with extra marshmallow-y goodness! **(gives Cerma-chan a dozen s'mores)**

For everyone who reviewed chapter five, a dozen s'mores each! HOPE YA LOVE EM!

_**NOTE**_

**(Authors note)**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Scene change

**POV change**

Memory, reading or writing something, etc. **(you'll figure it out)**

"_Singing"_

"_**Inner Sakura talking to Sakura"**_

_Scene change in memory_

_**INDEX**_

_Imi, Kinki:_ taboo

_Kami:_ God, Lord

_Nani:_ what

* * *

Chapter 6

More Information

'Ugh. My head _hurts._ Okay, no more liquor for a _long_ time. … What happened last night? … Oh Kami no! Ugh … she's going to kill me as soon as we're both up. I just know it …'

Clearly, the thoughts are Shikamaru's as he wakes up from drunken slumber. He feels his arms around a now familiar petite waist. She is curled up beside him, letting her head rest on his chest as she continues sleeping. Shikamaru opens his dark eyes to look at the sleeping woman. He smirks at the soft smile on her face.

He then realizes that they did _not_ wind up in a compromising position last night. He sighs in relief. But that relief doesn't last long when Sakura starts moving slightly, waking up. When she wakes up, it's either going to be severe pain or… he doesn't even want to ponder on what else she could do to him.

Her eyes blink open to meet his. Surprising him, she smiles. "How are you feeling?" she asks softly, sitting up after he releases her waist.

He raises an eyebrow. What? No screams? No hitting? This is _not_ what he expected. He lifts his head up before quickly lowering it, a hiss of pain coming from his lips. "Like hell," he groans, closing his eyes.

Her smile brightens as she gets up and goes to the table. She grabs the cup of herbal tea mixed with the medicine for pain she had made last night. She brings it to the bed. "I can help you there, but you'll have to sit up to drink this," she says, her voice soft and soothing.

He groans and sits up, holding one hand to his forehead as the hangover kicks in _very_ painfully. She hands him the cup and he quickly downs it, not even asking what's in it. Whatever it is, it works fast. In minutes, the pain is completely gone. "Thanks," he mutters.

"No more bars until _after_ we return to Konoha," Sakura says sternly. "We can't have you getting drunk again. I'm out of the herbs needed to make the medicine that alleviates pain."

"I wasn't planning on it," Shikamaru drawls.

"Good," Sakura says, nodding. Then she leans in and gives him a kiss on the cheek. "Now, we have to get ready to go find some civilian contacts today," she continues, grinning at his stunned expression. While he's sitting in shock, Sakura grabs some clothes and heads to the bathroom, closing the folding doors and the bathroom door behind her.

Once she's in her shower, Shikamaru's hand slowly reaches up to touch the spot she had kissed. 'This is so unlike Sakura-chan,' he thinks in surprise. 'What am I missing?' he wonders, thinking back to the night before. Pushing down his blush, he goes over the time they had kissed and their make-out session. It is then that he realizes that she had _willingly_ submitted into the kiss and had _started_ the make-out session. 'Does this mean …?' he thinks, not daring to finish the thought. Finishing the thought would get his hopes up, and if he's wrong, it will be a blow to his heart. He already had enough blows to his heart with Ino chasing Sasuke. He's not going to repeat the same mistake twice. He's too smart to do that. He had lied to Sakura about only ever liking Ino as a friend; he had a small crush on the blonde back in the academy and a few years after they graduated. But he finally got over that childhood crush when they were about sixteen.

He looks up when the folding doors open. And again, he blushes at her choice of outfits. This time, the top is a bright green tube top that leaves her belly exposed from just under her chest down to her hips. She's wearing dark green mini-skirt that goes as low as the shorts from yesterday went and starts just above her pelvis. In short, she's wearing even _less_ cloth today than yesterday. Sakura grins at him. "Get your shower, Shika-kun," she says. "We should leave soon to get those civilian contacts firmly settled and reaffirm the ones with Adrian-san and the ninjas."

Shikamaru just yawns and waves a hand to show he understands. "Yeah, yeah," he mutters. He grabs some clothes and heads to the bathroom for his shower, closing the folding doors and bathroom door behind him.

As he showers, he thinks of what had transpired this morning between him and Sakura. Even last night is confusing to him. He has _never_ seen this side of Sakura before. He doesn't know what to expect from her. And he _hates_ being in a situation where he has no idea what could happen. It could turn into something devastating.

In the meantime, Sakura is busy tying her hair up in a braid, and then tying that braid into a fancy bun. Once she's satisfied, she puts on some light eye shadow and strawberry lip gloss. Then she puts the make-up and the room key in her purse, among other items she may find useful. She sticks a few senbon into her hair to hold it up without them being at all obvious. Even Shikamaru wouldn't notice them unless he got real close. She has a feeling that today _may_ turn ugly. So she's going to be prepared; better overly cautious than dead.

Shikamaru opens the folding doors. Sakura turns and grins at him. Then a small blush decorates her cheeks. His outfit is like the one he wore yesterday. Black jeans and a white wife beater. But this time, he's not wearing a jacket.

Then she notices that he's also looking at her with a light blush on his cheeks. 'At least I know I look good,' she thinks. 'But _man!_ Ino-pig never said Shika-kun is _this_ hot! Or has she not seen him outside those ridiculous ninja uniforms? Man! Maybe I _should_ get him drunk and take a picture of him while he's in a drunken sleep in that kind of clothing. Then I can flaunt it in front of Ino-pig! Hehe! She'll never believe her lazy teammate can look so damned _sexy!'_

Shikamaru notices Sakura's eyes glaze over like she's thinking hard about something. Judging from her smug smile, it most likely isn't something he'd want to know. But it never hurts to ask. "Do I want to know what you're thinking of?" he drawls.

'Trust Shikamaru to be damned sexy _and_ lazy as hell,' Sakura thinks. "I doubt it," she replies with a smirk.

"Then let's go," he says. "Troublesome woman," he mutters.

"I _heard_ that," she says, scowling. He just grins at her, causing her to blush again. 'He's too damned sexy for his own good,' she thinks. 'If Ino-pig knew how sexy he is, she wouldn't have chased after … him. She'd have chased Shikamaru instead. Come to think of it, I would've as well. Dammit! This s gonna be a _long_ month. I gotta keep my mind _away_ from intimate thoughts about Shikamaru. Or we could both wind up in some very awkward situations. And you better not try something funny!' she mentally yells at her inner self, who is now pouting in a mental corner of Sakura's mind..

"Are you coming?" Shikamaru sighs, standing in the hall of the hotel. 'Jeez. Troublesome woman gets so caught up in her thoughts she doesn't realize what's going on around her.'

"Coming!" she chirps, coming out and closing the door behind her. In this hotel, the doors automatically lock themselves when they are shut to save time for the guests. "So! Since I picked yesterday, it's _your_ turn to pick!" Sakura chirps, shoving the list of civilian hotspots in his hands.

"Wait! Nani? No way!" Shikamaru exclaims.

Sakura grins. "Fine, I'll just choose another bar …" she starts, taking the list back.

"Give me that," Shikamaru growls, snatching the list. He is _not_ going to three bars in three days! Two bars in two days is already two bars too many **(okay, I just confused myself)**. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees the smirk on her lips. 'Damned troublesome woman! She intended for me to choose!' he thinks. He sighs and scans the list. 'No bars. And definitely _no_ shopping!' he thinks. He's already been dragged by Ino on shopping sprees more times than he cares to count. 'That doesn't leave many choices,' he thinks, scanning the list. 'A dance hall? No way! I _hate_ dancing!' he thinks in disgust. "You choose," he mutters, tossing the list at her.

She catches it and glances over it. She knows Shikamaru hates dancing and shopping with a passion. And they had agreed no bars for a while. "Huh… there's not much we can do on this list," she murmurs. "Seems making civilian connections will be harder than we thought." He nods. "Perhaps we should go make sure our connections at _Imi Kinki_ are strong. Shinobi and barkeepers learn things faster than civilians anyways. Adrian-san might have some more information."

"True," Shikamaru agrees. "But we better get a few more shinobi and barkeeper connections before tomorrow."

Sakura smiles. "I'll handle the barkeepers; you can get the shinobi connections secured." With that, they head for _Imi Kinki_. They walk in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

A few minutes later, a sudden thought causes Sakura to stop in the middle of the road. "Nani?" Shikamaru asks, annoyed.

She looks up at him. "I haven't seen you smoke a single cigarette since we got this mission," she states. "What's up?"

He shrugs. "You hate it, and it's too troublesome to get in an argument about it," he mutters.

Sakura laughs. "Well, I highly doubt you can go without one for the entire mission! It's gonna be a lot of stress on both of us, especially after the treaty conference starts," she states. "So I'm gonna enjoy the smoke-free air while I can." Shikamaru scowls at her, seriously considering hitting her. But in the end, he decides hitting her would be too troublesome. She'd just hit back and her hit would _hurt._ He sighs as she tugs his arm. "C'mon! We can't just stand in the street all day," Sakura says impatiently.

He sighs again, knowing she's right. So he lets her drag him the rest of the way to the bar. He _really_ wants a cigarette. But he does _not_ want to get in a troublesome argument about it with Sakura right now. Since there is a good distance to walk, he thinks back to when he first started smoking.

_**!!!SPOILER FOR MANGA!!! DON'T READ NEXT PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS!**_

_**ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO READ?**_

_**LAST CHANCE! SKIP UPCOMIJNG PARAGRAPH IF YOU DON'T LIKE SPOILERS!**_

_**OKAY, HERE'S THE SPOILERS!**_

_Sarutobi Asuma died just a few days ago, the burial was only two days away. In memory of Asuma, Shikamaru lit up his first cigarette while Ino and Choji stood beside him. They remembered all the good times they had with their teacher and friend. For him to have died the way he had… it just wasn't right. He was supposed to go down fighting at least! Not through an immortal's damned 'curse'. Hidan used some bloodline trait to bind his body to Asuma's. Since Hidan couldn't be killed with mere flesh wounds, the immortal Akastuki member stabbed his own heart with his triple-bladed scythe, killing Asuma through the bind. Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru were intent on getting revenge or die trying._

_**END SPOILERS**_

"SHIKAMARU!" Sakura yells. "Don't you ever listen to anyone?" she demands. He shrugs. "Ugh. I'll repeat it again, but don't you dare zone out again! I won't say it three times!"

"Whatever."

"I _said_ that we need to choose some bars nearby after we get whatever information that may have turned up. After we get a few more contacts, we should then go see the Raikage to see if he found … him. After that, I'll talk him into letting us have a tour of the Raikage Tower, just to 'see how it looks'. We'll have to make sure that the Cloud nin don't get suspicious though," she says. "Tsunade-shishou taught me a powerful cloaking jutsu. I can cover two people safely with it. The jutsu will let us sneak around the parts of the tower that the tour goes by."

Shikamaru listens to her plan, then goes over the odds of getting caught snooping and risks they'll have to take in the tower. "How powerful is this jutsu?" he asks, knowing that is an important part of the chances of success or failure.

She grins. "I had trouble mastering it, but I managed to cloak myself and Naruto after several weeks. We could see and hear each other, but others could even walk _through_ us without knowing we're there, and they _can't_ hear anything said. But I can only keep it up for five hours at most," she informs him.

"Hmm," he voices, going over the chances of getting caught and risks while adding in this new bit of information. "We'd have to move fast then," he says finally. "How far apart can the ones hidden by the jutsu be?"

"We have to remain in the same room," Sakura says. "I haven't quite mastered cloaking another person in a different room yet; they'd be invisible, yes, but they can be touched and heard. Tsunade-shishou says I have the potential to master every aspect of the jutsu, though. But I don't think now is a good time to practice that."

"No, it isn't," he agrees. He looks up to see the bar. "We're here."

"Okay," Sakura says. The Jounin Cloud nin recognize them from two days ago and let them pass. "You go check with the nin, I'll talk to Adrian-san." Shikamaru nods and they separate. As Sakura walks up to the counter, she smiles at Adrian. "Ohayo Adrian-san," she greets.

"Ohayo Sakura-san," he replies. "Would ye like some whiskey?"

"Yes please," she says. She tilts her head to the side cutely. "Have you heard any more about this 'plan' against Konoha?" she asks softly.

"Hai, I have," he whispers conspiratorially, handing her the whiskey. "A few Cloud nin came in yesterday and got rather drunk and talked about this 'plan' of theirs in more detail. As they sat here at the bar, I couldn't help but hear their conversation. And it's worse than I thought."

"How so?" Sakura asks curiously.

"Well, seems they got a few S-classes from their prison and made a deal with them. Deal was if they help take down Konoha and Suna, their stay in prison will be drastically reduced. And I thought to mehself that this could be very bad and start another ninja war," he informs her quietly. "So I figured I ought to tell ye about it so ya can try to stop this before it breaks into war. War would be bad on meh business, as most o' meh customers are from Konoha and Suna. I know they are strong allies and would team up against Cloud to take down the Raikage and others who had a hand in planning this."

"I thank you greatly for this. It will help Konoha and Suna prepare beforehand if anything _does_ happen. I'll make sure to mention your tremendous help to Hokage-sama and Kazekage-sama," Sakura says warmly. "Perhaps you can even move your bar to Konoha; as we have a few less bars there than here, and even more nin frequent Konoha bars, more than I've seen in any other city. I'm positive the extra money will help you greatly, and it will spread the news quickly. Konoha has some of the biggest gossipers in all the countries combined. They will make sure _everyone _knows about you in less than two days."

Adrian grins. "You are a might fine kunoichi, Sakura-san. If things do get ugly, I just might take you up on your offer. Or I might take it anyways," he agrees.

Shikamaru walks up. "Hey," he greets, sitting down in the barstool next to Sakura. "Get any information?" he asks her softly in her ear.

She nods. "A lot of useful information," she whispers back. He grins and nods.

"I'll just take some water today," he says to Adrian. Adrian grins and gets Shikamaru his drink. "I think I over did it last night."

Sakura laughs. "You certainly did!" she agrees, smirking. Shikamaru scowls at her. After Sakura has drunk three shots of whiskey and Shikamaru finished his water, they decide they should get going. "Well, we should be leaving. Thank you for your troubles, Adrian-san. We're wanting to check out some other bars as well," Sakura says, turning to Adrian. "We wanna see if they're 'as good as' yours." Adrian laughs and nods, knowing what she means. Shikamaru pays for their drinks and leaves a much larger tip than last time, about a hundred fifty yen extra. Adrian nods his thanks as they leave.

Five hours later

Shikamaru and Sakura are back in their hotel room after visiting seven more bars after leaving _Imi Kinki._ With each bar, Sakura grew more and more uneasy. Each barkeeper added onto the information Adrian gave her. She sighs. "It seems that the threat against Konoha is actually true," she says softly, then tells him what she had learned from all of the barkeepers.

"Shit," Shikamaru curses after she's done. "That's pretty much what I found out from the other nin. We better make contact with Konoha and warn them."

"Even passing the message through a Leaf nin is too dangerous," Sakura says softly. "I wonder…," she murmurs after a moment of thought.

"What?"

"Write up the message in code, okay? I think I know a way we can get the warning to Konoha without it going with a nin."

"How?" Shikamaru asks curiously.

Sakura smiles. "I'll tell you when you're done with the message."

"How troublesome," he mutters, grabbing a small scroll and a pen. Sakura looks over his shoulder again as he writes the coded message. She reads it as he writes:

_Clouds are spreading soon. Storms imminent in Konoha and Suna, arrival time unknown. Be prepared for outcast visitors._

Sakura nods, chuckling a bit. "Well, I think most nin _can't_ decode that without taking a long time," she says. "If I didn't know what it means, _I_ would take a while figuring it out.

Shikamaru nods. "But we can't take any chances with nins," he reminds her. "Now how are we going to get this to Hokage-sama?"

Sakura smirks. "I'm certain Raikage-sama knows that we are to send regular reports to Tsunade-shishou, and I was thinking we could use a nin hawk to transport it. Then we can look around the tower to see if we turn up anymore information. If we're caught, we could just say we were seeing how similar our Hokage Tower is to their Raikage Tower."

Shikamaru nods. "Good plan," he agrees.

* * *

Sarah: well, I'm ending this here. Next chapter, they'll visit the Raikage, send off their report, and have a look around Raikage tower. Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter! REVIEW! Nice reviewers get ten cookies of their favorite kind! Flames will be used to bake the cookies. 


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